Amy E. Lesen, PhD

Antioch University
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Dr. Amy Lesen joined the Antioch University Graduate School of Leadership and Change (GSLC) as a Professor of Environmental Leadership and Participatory Change in January 2023. Amy is based in New Orleans.

The overarching themes of her work are climate, environmental, and health justice: the interrelatedness between environmental and human social dynamics in coastal cities and coastal communities and how those systems are influenced by climate and environmental change. Much of her current work focuses on New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana, and the Gulf Coast. She also conducts research and writing focused on the intersection between science and the arts, disaster resilience, informal science learning, scientific public engagement, science communication, participatory research, and interdisciplinarity.

Amy is also part of the teaching faculty in the Disaster Resilience Leadership program at the Tulane University School of Social Work. For 11 years between 2007 and 2020, Amy was a full-time faculty member (granted tenure in 2012) at Dillard University, an Historically Black College in New Orleans, where she served as chair of the Biology Department and was also a research faculty in the Dillard Minority Health and Health Equity Research Center. From 2014 to 2020, she was a full-time research associate professor at the Tulane University ByWater Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Marine Fisheries Biology and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in Integrative Biology with a concentration in biological oceanography and paleoceanography. Previously, she was an assistant professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NYC, from 2003 to 2007.

Amy E. Lesen, PhD

Professor

Environmental Leadership and Participatory Change

[email protected]

  • PhD, University of California, Berkeley. Department of Integrative Biology, Spring 2003.
    • Dissertation title:  Benthic foraminifera in San Francisco Bay: environment, ecology, and paleoecology.
  • BS, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Marine Fisheries Biology. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, 1994. Outstanding Senior in Fisheries Award, 1994.
  • Lead Principal Investigator. National Science Foundation, Advancing Informal Science Learning Program. September 2020September 2022. Studying Scientist-Educator-Artist Collaborations and Participatory Community Learning around Environmental Change and Adaptation. $299,893.
  • Co-PI: Collaboration with New Orleans community-based organization 7th Ward Healthy Community Services and University of Michigan: Measuring and Monitoring the Effects of Greening on the Urban Heat Island Effect, Water Uptake, and Social Challenges. 2017-present.
  • Co-Principal Investigator. National Science Foundation, Improvements in Facilities, Communications, and Equipment at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) Program, Planning grant. September 2018 –September 2019. Planning for the ByWater Biological Field Station at Carmichael Forest. $24,995.
  • Sole Principle Investigator. Louisiana Board of Regents, Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars (ATLAS) Subprogram, June 2018 – June 2019. Oral Histories of Scientists at the Boundary: Interdisciplinarity, Public Engagement, and Transformation. $46,837.00
  • Co-Principle Investigator. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Gulf Research Program, Co-PI, May 2017 – May 2019: Supporting the Isle de Jean Charles community resettlement through cross-boundary networks and knowledge synthesis. $200,000.00.
  • Tulane subaward Principle Investigator. Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, October 2016 – present. Consortium for Resilient Gulf Communities. Lead PI: RAND Corporation with co-PI’s from LSU, University of Southern Alabama, Louisiana Public Health Initiative. $1,402,000 Tulane subaward.
  • Sole Principle Investigator. National Science Foundation, Science, Technology and Society Program, August 2013 – August 2017: Scholars Award: Science in Transformation: Shifting Disciplinary Boundaries and Community-Engaged Scientists. $213,869.00.
  • Senior personnel. National Science Foundation: August 2013 – February 2018: Diversity and Disease in a Post-Trauma Human Landscape. Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program, Lead PI: Michael Blum, Tulane University. $1,410,363.00.
  • Co-Principle Investigator. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 2009 – Adapting to Future Hurricane Risk Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Developing and Implementing Robust Strategies for a More Resilient New Orleans. Lead PI: David Groves and Jordan Fischbach, Rand Corporation with co-PI’s from UNO, Tulane University. $380,000.
  • Sole Principle Investigator. National Science Foundation, Science, Technology, and Society Program, 2009 – 2010. Science, Policy, and the Community: A Symposium in Post-Katrina New Orleans, $25,000. Organized symposium on academic civic engagement, with thirty participants from academic institutions from across the U.S. and in the Caribbean.  
  • Sole Principle Investigator. Louisiana Board of Regents, 2009 – 2010. A Course Module on Southeastern Louisiana Ecosystems: Enhancing Ecology Education in Louisiana For Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students. Award No. 018UG-09, $16,000.
  • Senior Personnel. Marguerite Casey Foundation, 2009 – 2012. Developing the Dillard University Center for the Environment and Public Policy. $250,000. Co-coordinator of project, worked on developing an environmental science initiative.

Toolkits and Reports

  • Preserving Our Place: A Community Field Guide to Engagement, Resilience, and Resettlement: Community regeneration in the face of environmental and developmental pressures. 2019. Authors: Tribal Chief Albert Naquin, Tribal Secretary Chantel Comardelle, Alessandra Jerolleman, Amy E. Lesen, Kristina Peterson, Joseph Evans, Erin Tooher, Jeffrey Mansfield, Nathaniel Corum, Nathan Jessee, Joseph Kunkel, Sierra Bainbridge, Amie Shao, Mayrah Udvardi, Tribal Deputy Chief Wenceslaus “Boyo” Billiot Jr., Tribal Councilman Tommy Dardar, Tribal Advisor Démé “J.R.” Naquin. © 2019, Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/y5y4ccp9

Books and Book Chapters (Peer Reviewed)

  • Lesen AE. Book under contract with Palgrave Macmillan expected 2022. Environmental Expertise in Action – Discussions with Publicly Engaged Scientists.  
  • Lesen AE, (ed). 2015. Scientists, Experts, and Civic Engagement: Walking a Fine Line. Routledge, London and New York.  ISBN 978-1- 4724-1524-0.
  • Lesen, AE. 2015. A New Paradigm for Science Communication? Social Media, Twitter, Science, and Public Engagement: A Literature Review. In Lesen, AE. Scientists, Experts, and Civic Engagement: Walking a Fine Line. Routledge, London, and New York.  ISBN 978-1- 4724-1524-0, 111-136.
  • Naquin, Albert P, Lesen, AE, and Kristina J. Peterson. 2015. “We Can’t Give Up:” A Conversation About Community Engagement. In Lesen, AE. Scientists, Experts, and Civic Engagement: Walking a Fine Line. Routledge, London and New York.  ISBN 978-1- 4724-1524-0, 101-110.
  • Lesen AE. (In press.) “Bayou Bienvenue” and “Pumping Stations” In: Thomas L & Steeby E (eds), A People’s Guide to New Orleans. University of California Press.

Journal Articles (Peer Reviewed)

  • Saltzman Leia Y., Lesen Amy E., Henry Veronica, Cross Hansel Tonya, Bordnick Patrick. 2021. COVID-19 Mental Health Disparities. Health Security Journal special issue: Systemic Racism and Health Security. Volume 19 (S1): https://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2021.0017.
  • Lightfoot, E. S., Lesen, A. E., & Ferreira, R. J. 2020. Gender and resilience in Gulf Coast communities: Risk and protective factors following a technological disaster. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. Volume 50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101716.
  • Liddell JL, Saltzman LY, Ferreira RJ, Lesen AE. 2020. Cumulative Disaster Exposure, Gender and the PADM. Progress in Disaster Science, 5, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2019.100042
  • Lesen, AE, Tucker C, Olson, MG, Ferreira RJ. 2019. ‘Come Back At Us:’ Reflections on Researcher-Community Partnerships During a Post-Oil Spill Gulf Coast Resilience Study. Social Sciences 2019, 8, 8; doi:10.3390/socsci8010008.
  • Melissa L. Finucane, Michael J. Blum, Rajeev Ramchand, Andrew M. Parker, Shanthi Nataraj, Noreen Clancy, Gary Cecchine, Anita Chandra, Tim Slack, George Hobor, Regardt J. Ferreira, Ky Luu, Amy E. Lesen & Craig A. Bond. 2019. Advancing community resilience research and practice: moving from “me” to “we” to “3D”. Journal of Risk Research, DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2
  • Rael R, Peterson AC, Ghersi-Chavez B, Riegel C, Lesen AE, Blum MJ. 2018. The distribution and prevalence of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) infection in rodents across post-Katrina New Orleans. Emerging Infectious Diseases. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2412.180056
  • Patel, M.M., Saltzman, L.Y., Ferreira, R.J., Lesen, A.E. 2018. Resilience: Examining the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on the Gulf Coast Vietnamese American Community. Social Sciences 7, 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7100203
  • Lesen AE, Rogan A, Blum MJ. 2016. Science Communication Through Art: Objectives, Challenges, and Outcomes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 31(9): 657-660, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.06.004.
  • Gulachenski A, Ghersi B, Lesen AE, Blum MJ. 2016. Abandonment, Ecological Assembly and Public Health Risks in CounterUrbanizing Cities. Sustainability. 8(5), 491; doi:10.3390/su8050491.
  • Lesen AE. 2012. Oil, Floods, and Fish: The Social Role of Environmental Scientists. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 2(3):  263-270.
  • Lesen AE, Lipps JH. 2011. What Have Natural and Human Changes Wrought on the Meiofauna (Foraminifera) of San Francisco Bay Late Quaternary Estuaries? Quaternary Research 76(2).
  • Lesen AE, Juhl AR and Anderson OR. 2010. Abundance and biomass of heterotrophic microplankton in the lower Hudson River Estuary, USA: Potential importance of naked, planktonic amebas for bactivory and carbon flux. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 61(1): 45-56.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA Op-Ed

  • Lesen, AE. New Orleans Advocate. Guest column: Coronavirus will exacerbate existing health inequities. March 25, 2020.

Selected Media Appearances

  • Interview on CBS Evening News with Janet Shamlian: Coronavirus hits poor and minority communities hard in the South. April 7, 2020.
  • Ecological Society of America conference, August 2018. Supporting the Isle de Jean Charles Community resettlement through cross-boundary networks and knowledge synthesis. Amy E. Lesen, Chantel Comardelle, Alessandra Jerolleman, Kristina Peterson, Joseph Evans, Joseph Kunkel, Sierra Bainbridge, Amie Shao, Nathaniel Corum, Albert P. Naquin, Erin Tooher, Jeffrey Mansfield and Taylor Sinclair.
  • Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference, February 2019. (Oral presentation) Who is a Community? Questioning Community Framing in the Gulf Coast. A. Melendez Salgado, Lesen, R. Ferreira.
  • Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference, February 2019. (Oral presentation) Cumulative Disaster Exposure, Gender, and the PADM. J. L. Liddell, L. Y. Saltzman, R. J. Ferreira, E. Lesen.
  • Society for Social Work and Research, January 2019. (Oral presentation) Reflective Scholarship: Evaluation of University Community Partnerships during a Post-Deepwater Horizon Resilience Study in Louisiana and Alabama. C. Tucker, E. Lesen.
  • Society for Social Work and Research, January 2019. (Oral presentation) Predictors of Individual Resilience a Case Study of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. L. Saltzman, R. Ferreira, A Lesen.
  • Society for Social Work and Research, January 2019. (Poster). Gender Differences in Exposure and Preparedness in PostDisaster Settings. Liddell, J. L., Ferreira, R. J., Lesen, A. E., Saltzman, L. Y., Patel, M.M., Melendez-Salgado, A.O., & Lopez, E. A.
  • Society for Social Work and Research, January 2019. (Poster). Resilience Among Vietnamese and Non-Vietnamese Individuals Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Patel, M. M., Saltzman, L. Y., Ferreira, R. J., Lesen, A. E., MelendezSalgado, A.O., & Liddell, J. L.
  • Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference, February 2018, New Orleans, LA. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – Predictors of Individual Resilience. Co-authors: R. F. Ferreira, Lesen, J. Liddell, M. Patel, E. Lopez. Citizen Science Association, St. Paul, MN, May 2017, Science in Transformation: Stories of Interdisciplinarity and Public Engagement.
  • Invited talk: Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, March 2017, Urban socio-ecology, interdisciplinarity, and community engagement. EcoSummit 2016, August 2016, Montpelier, France. Presentation: Diversity and disease in a post-trauma urban landscape.
  • Invited talk: Louisiana State University Libraries, September 2015. Urban Ecology, Interdisciplinarity, and CommunityEngaged Science: Towards More Citizen-Driven Environmental Policy?
  • Association of American Geographers, April 2015, Chicago. Presentation: Urban Ecology and Science in Transformation: Shifting Disciplinary Boundaries and Community-Engaged Scientists.
  • Association of American Geographers, February 2012, New York City. Presentation: Adapting to Future Hurricane Risk Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Developing and Implementing Robust Strategies for a More Resilient New Orleans.
  • Association of American Geographers, April 2011, Seattle, WA. Presentation: The Environment, Culture, Risk, and the Future of Coastal Communities: The Louisiana Example.
  • Invited panelist, panel to discuss the Deepwater Horizon BP oil disaster, Multispecies Salon 3: SWARM, art exhibition and interdisciplinary anthropology event, New Orleans November 2011.
  • Invited talk: UC Santa Cruz, Urban Studies Department, October 2010. Climate Change and the Future of Coastal Communities:  The Louisiana Example.
  • Organization of American Historians Meeting, March 2009, Seattle, WA; Interdisciplinary panel of scientists and historians, presentation on “New Orleans, an Exceptional City?”
  • Coastal Cities Summit, Nov 2008; St. Petersburg, FL; panel discussion on Climate Change, History, and Architecture in New Orleans and Louisiana.
  • Invited panelist, panel discussion on art, science, and climate change, New Orleans Botanical Garden, with Robert Tannen, Ron Bechet, and John Barnes, spring 2008.
  • American Studies Association Annual Meeting 2007; Philadelphia, October 2007. Scientists versus the local community: A case study in pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans, as part of panel, “New Orleans, USA?: Racism, Science, Hurricane Katrina and the Abandonment of a Global City.”
  • Invited panelist, Pratt Institute, NYC, January 2007, “Is New Orleans a Shrinking City?”

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL, SCHOLARLY, AND CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

  • Collaborator and seminar coordinator, Mississippi: An Anthropocene River project in partnership with German and U.S. universities and organizations. 2018-2019.
  • Committee Member, United States Virgin Islands Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee, 2018.
  • Invited advisory board member for book project, A People’s Guide to New Orleans, invited by editor Lynnell Thomas, September 2015 – present.
  • Invited peer reviewer, National Science Foundation: Science Technology and Society Program 2009, 2013, 2017; Directorate for Education and Human Resources 2014.
  • Organized and hosted academic symposium with over 30 participants from the U.S. and abroad, Walking a Fine Line: Scientists, Experts, and Civic Engagement, Dillard University, November 2010.
  • With artist and Xavier University art faculty member Ron Bechet, environmentally-based painting exhibit and installation, Ron Bechet: Natural, Amy Lesen Collaborator, Dillard University Art Gallery, January 21-February 26, 2010.
  • Invited facilitator and member, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Public Policy Task Force, New Orleans, 2009.
  • Invited guest on closing night panel discussion for exhibit at Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Robert Tannen Stardust: Objects, Ideas and Proposals, invited by the artist, September 2008.
  • Fellow, Louisiana Board of Regents Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars (ATLAS) Subprogram, 2018-2019.
  • Hilton Endowed Chair in Biology, Dillard University, 2010 – 2014.
  • Advisor of the Year Award, Dillard University, Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation program, 2012.
  • Mentor of the Year Award, Dillard University, Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation program, 2010.
  • Presidential Mini-Grant, Dillard University, 2008, 2009.
  • Faculty Development Award, Pratt Institute, 2006
  • Mellon Foundation Faculty Research Grant, Pratt Institute, 2004-2005; 2005-2006.
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (declined), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2003
  • Peabody Fellowship for Invertebrate Paleobiology, UC Museum of Paleontology, Spring 2003
  • Dorothy Palmer Memorial Prize, UC Museum of Paleontology, 2001
  • Graduate Student Research Grant, Geological Society of America, 1999 and 2001
  • Graduate Student Research Grant, Cushman Society for Foraminiferal Research, 2000
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, U.C. Berkeley, 1999

Member:  Ecological Society of America, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Citizen Science Association, Association of American Geographers, Society for Social Studies of Science

Selected Dillard University Service Activities:

  • Elected Member, Dillard University Academic Senate Tenure and Promotion Committee, 2021.
  • Elected member, Dillard Academic Senate Curriculum Committee: 2012-2014, 2020.
  • Coordinator, Dillard Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center Symposium,
  • Coordinator, Dillard Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center Scholar-in-Residence Program, 2020-present.
  • Member, Dillard University COVID Task Force Update – Risk Management and Public Health, 2020-present. Search committee member, Dillard Biology Department faculty search, 2020
  • Biology Department Chair, 2010 – 2012.
  • Biology Department Co-Chair, 2009 – 2010.
  • Chair, Dillard Academic Senate Curriculum Committee: 2013-2014.
  • Secretary, Dillard Academic Senate Curriculum Committee: 2012-2013.
  • Co-coordinator, Initiative to develop Dillard Center for the Environment and Public Policy, 2009- 2010.

Selected Professional Service:

  • Invited organizing committee member: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus study, “Criteria for Community Participation in the Gulf Research Program’s Enhancing Community Resilience Initiative” (the Encore Criteria Study).
  • Member, Louisiana Governor’s State COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, 2020-present.
  • Special Issue Co-Editor: Sustainability Journal, “The Socioecology of Disasters and Infectious Disease.” 2020-present.
  • Editorial Board Member: Sustainability Journal, 2020-present.
  • Editorial Board Member, Traumatology an American Psychological Association Journal, 2020 to present.
  • Member, Insurance Task Force, Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, 2021-present.
  • Board Member, A Studio in the Woods, New Orleans, LA, 2012-2018.
  • Member of Nominations Committee, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2010 to 2012.
  • Member of Awards Committee, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2010 to 2012.

Selected Reviewer Activity:

  • Invited international reviewer, Dutch Research Council,research grant program.
  • Invited grant proposal review panelist, National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
  • Invited grant proposal reviewer, National Science Foundation Directorate of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
  • Invited reviewer, Oral History Review and Reports of the National Center for Science Education.
  • Invited Peer Reviewer, Quaternary International Journal, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Journal of Foraminiferal Research.

Tulane University Service Activities:

  • Member, Environmental Studies Faculty, Tulane University Environmental Studies Program, 2014-2020.
  • Faculty mentor, Third Coast Residential Learning Community inaugural year, 2017-2018 academic year.
  • Organizing committee member, Tulane University Climate Day, 2017-2018.

Selected Community Service:

  • Mental Health Crisis Line Counselor: 2020-present.
  • Executive Vice President for Education, Synagogue Shir Chadash, 2016-2018.
  • Member, Synagogue Shir Chadash Oral History Committee, 2015-2018.
  • Board of Directors Member, Synagogue Shir Chadadsh, 2014-2018.
  • Member, Synagogue Shir Chadadsh Social Justice Committee, 2013-2020.
  • Co-coordinator, Interfaith Passover Seder, Temple Sinai, Spring 2011 Member, Board of Directors, New Orleans Food Cooperative, 2008-2009.
  • Member, New Orleans Food Cooperative, 2007-present.
  • Volunteer, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 2007, 2008.